AT&T National 2011: Nick Watney Holds Off K.J. Choi For Victory At Aronimink

Nick Watney held off a late challenge by K.J. Choi on Sunday to win the 2011 AT&T National, his second victory of the year. Starting the day at 9-under, Watney shot a 4-under in Round 4 to finish at 13-under, two strokes better than K.J. Choi. Watney’s 8-under round on Saturday propelled him to the top of the leaderboard and the chance for a tournament victory at Aronimink Golf Club.

Choi had taken a share of the lead by making birdie on the par-3 14th hole, but a double bogey on the next hole set him back to 10-under. Choi had hit into a bunker and missed the green when getting out of it. Watney birdied the 16th hole, which Choi did as well to stay just two strokes behind. But both would par the final two holes. Watney and Choi are projected to be Nos. 1 and 2 in the next FedEx Cup standings update.

Nick Watney has maintained his hold atop the 2011 AT&T National leaderboard, going 3-under through 11 holes to reach 12-under. He’s being challenged by K.J. Choi, who’s a stroke back with six holes remaining, and Jeff Overton, who’s gone 4-under on the day to reach 10-under.

Not present in the short list of contenders: Rickie Fowler. After an outstanding Saturday, Fowler has fallen from first to a tie for ninth place, starting his day with a double bogey on hole No. 2. Fowler’s quest for his first career PGA Tour victory will have to continue next time around.

The final round of the 2011 AT&T National gets underway on Sunday morning at Aronimink Golf Club and the top of the leaderboard is crowded. After a third round that saw the field go low, Nick Watney and Rickie Fowler emerged as the leaders, tied at 9-under for the tournament and one-shot clear of the field. K.J. Choi sits in third at 8-under, well within striking distance. The three will be paired together in the final group on Sunday at Tiger Woods’ tournament.

The AT&T National is different from most tournaments and will send groups of three off both the first and 10th tees on Sunday. Typically the field will be pared down on Friday with the cut, with groups only teeing-off on the first hole during the weekend rounds.

Nick Watney came out firing on Saturday in the third round of the 2011 AT&T National, carding a 62 to move into a tie for first-place heading into Sunday’s final round. Watney’s 62 included eight birdies, an eagle, two bogeys and a blistering back nine. After making the turn at even-par on the day, Watney came back in 27 with birdies on the 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 17th, as well as an eagle on the 16th.

Rickie Fowler had quite the day himself, carding a 64 to share first-place with Watney. Good scores were out there in the third round of the AT&T National, and Fowler capitalized on the conditions, putting himself in prime position heading into the final 18 holes. He and Watney will be paired together in the final group on Sunday, and both sit one-shot clear of the field.

It seemed as though Chris Kirk was going to be the Day 3 story at the AT&T National early Saturday afternoon, but that didn’t stand for long. While Kirk is still in the top 10, due to the impressive back-nine from Nick Watney.

Watney converted an eagle attempt on Hole 16, a 558-yard Par 5 challenge that took him just three strokes to complete to give him a score of 27 on the back-nine and tournament-best 62 on the day. Six of Watney’s eight birdie attempts came within the last nine holes, not counting the eagle.

The AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pa., does not a new leader quite yet. Chris Kirk’s performance on Saturday, however, definitely did not hurt his quest to move to the top of the tournament leaderboard.

Kirk, a University of Georgia alumnus playing in his first full year on the PGA circuit, registered a tournament-low 63-stroke Day 3 performance while shooting seven strokes under par.

Erik Compton garnered shot of the day honors following his hole-out for eagle during the first round of the AT&T National at Aronomick Golf Club. Compton was right on target from 105 yards out, watching as his ball hopped twice, hit the flagstick and dropped for an eagle two. While the shot was nice, Compton’s story of overcoming adversity is far better.

First, here’s video of Compton’s shot, courtesy of the PGA Tour.

South Korean KJ Choi leads the AT&T National after two rounds and about half the golfers still on the course. Choi’s second round score of 64 (-6) has so far been the best score of the day and allowed him to move up 16 spots after shooting 69 in the first round. Chris Riley, who shot a 66 on the day, was sitting in second place at -5 for the tournament.

The player who seems to be in the best position to catch or even overtake Choi is countryman Charlie Wi. Through 10 holes he is at -4 for the day and -5 for the tournament.

The second round of the 2011 AT&T National gets underway Friday morning at 7:20 a.m. ET at Aronimink Golf Club in Newton Square, PA. After a closely fought first day of action, Australian Adam Scott and American Hunter Haas are tied for the tournament lead at 4-under, 66.

Some pairings to keep an eye on throughout the second day of the tournament:

The opening round of the 2011 AT&T National is in the books and Australian Adam Scott sits tied at the top of the leaderboard after shooting a 4-under 66. The Masters-runner up began the day on a blistering pace, nailing birdies on three of his first six holes, before cooling down on the back nine.

Unheralded American Hunter Haas shares the lead with Scott at 4-under. The 34-year old was having a rather unremarkable first round until a spectacular stretch in which he birdied four holes in a row from the 13th to the 16th.

The 2011 AT&T National doesn’t have Tiger Woods in the field, leaving it the slightest bit more open than expected. And a host of golfers are taking advantage of that in the first round at Aronimink Golf Club.

Four golfers — Dean Wilson, Joe Oglevie, Jhonattan Vegas, and Kyle Stanley — are all tied for the clubhouse lead at 3-under after finishing first round 67s. Three more golfers, Adam Scott, Kris Blanks, and Hunter Haas are tied for the lead at 3-under with holes left to play. Of those players, only Vegas, who won the Bob Hope Classic in January, has a PGA Tour victory this season.

The AT&T National 2011 gets underway on Thursday morning at Aronimink Golf Club at 7:20 a.m. ET in Newton Square, Pa. For many who expected Tiger Woods to tee off in this event to mark his return to PGA Tour, they will need to wait, but there are still many other players to follow.

Here are some pairings to watch over the first two days of the tournament: